


it's been one week since you looked at me

by warsfeil



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 08:12:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11870217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warsfeil/pseuds/warsfeil
Summary: Arashi Narukami is a man with a plan to seduce his teacher.It's just even the best laid plans go terribly awry.





	it's been one week since you looked at me

  
  
**MONDAY**  
  


Arashi Narukami is a man with a plan. He has it all mapped out: he knows exactly when Kunugi-sensei leaves the school building to start the trek across campus. He knows exactly what route Kunugi-sensei will take, because Kunugi-sensei is a man of habit and predictability, which is one of the many traits Arashi finds so endearing.

His plan is this: he will drop his schoolbag, innocuously, on the ground. “Oh no,” he’ll say, with a laugh at how clumsy he is, “I dropped my schoolbag!” Then, either Kunugi-sensei will be the gallant gentleman Arashi knows he is and get the bag for him, and their hands will briefly touch – or Arashi will bend over and get his bag himself, utilizing every bit of seductive aura he can pack into a simple bag retrieving maneuver. He’s been doing squats for days in preparation of this moment.

Whichever way the plan ends up, it puts him one step closer to Kunugi-sensei.

“So it’s basically the perfect plan,” Arashi tells Izumi.

“This is stupid,” Izumi says, hands shoved in his pockets, looking every bit like an irritated cat that’s been shoved into a holiday sweater.

“I don’t want to hear that from the man that bought a telescopic lens just to spy on that glasses boy, Izumi-chan,” Arashi says with an airy wave of his hand. Really, Izumi has no room to talk, but Arashi is polite enough not to bring it up.

“Hey. I could be watching him right now,” Izumi says, irritation rolling off of him in small waves. “He’s at practice, you know? He’s really cute when he’s trying so hard. I don’t even need to be here.”

“You’re my moral support!” Arashi reaches out to put a hand on Izumi’s shoulder, half to make sure he doesn’t try to bolt to the Trickstar practice room and half to make sure his nails are still clean. “If something goes wrong – not that it will – you have to treat me to dessert to help heal my heartbreak.”

“You’re buying your own dessert,” Izumi says, but doesn’t throw off Arashi’s hand, which is a good sign, all things considered. He’s growing up so much. 

“You treat a girl to dessert when heartbreak happens, Izumi-chan, that’s how it—“ Arashi starts, then stops, dropping into a stage whisper and letting his hand grip Izumi’s shoulder a little tighter. “ _There he is_.”

“Wow, yeah, ow,” Izumi says, reaching up to remove Arashi’s hand from his person. “You’ve got monster strength, stop—“

“ _Shhh_.” Arashi hushes him, urgently, because Kunugi-sensei is rapidly coming into view and the last thing Arashi wants is for him to overhear Izumi’s best attempts at being tsundere. Izumi looks at Arashi with his best “dead inside” model expression, gives up on removing Arashi’s hand, and sticks his own back in his pockets.

Nothing can go wrong! Nothing will go wrong. 

Carefully, Arashi removes his hand from Izumi’s shoulder, shifts his school bag, and steps out onto the walkway.

“Ah!” Arashi starts, dropping his bag onto the pavement in front of him. “I dropped— Anzu-chan?”

Izumi snorts inelegantly through his nose. “And you missed,” he says, turning on his heels. “I’m gonna go see if Yuu-kun is still practicing. Maybe he’ll be all sweaty.”

“Izumi-chan!” Arashi grabs his bag, sends another look back at where Anzu has rushed up to Kunugi-sensei, arms full of papers and an urgent look on her face. He can’t bear to interrupt when she looks so busy; he already feels guilt for the fact that he’s about to simply walk off. “I told you, you should buy me dessert!”

“Buy your own dessert!”

“This,” Arashi says, voice haughty as he fall back into step with Izumi, “is why you can’t charm your Yuu-kun, you know.”

“He doesn’t eat dessert,” Izumi says, looking genuinely confused, brows drawn together in a way that Arashi is sure will give him wrinkles by 28.

Arashi sighs. “You’re hopeless about men. Let’s go talk about how bad our love lives are,” he says, and there’s some degree of satisfaction with the fact that Izumi is still walking with him and not towards the practice rooms. At least he still has Knights to fall back on, even when his love life isn’t going well.

“Fine,” Izumi grumbles, “but I’m still not buying you dessert.”

  
  
**TUESDAY**  
  


There’s more than one way to skin a cat, which is a terrible colloquialism but a solid sentiment when it comes to charming a teacher. There’s more than one way to attract Kunugi-sensei’s attention, and just because Arashi’s plan went awry doesn’t mean he’ll let himself be let down for too long.

Besides, the consolation cake was almost as good as touching Kunugi-sensei would have been. _Almost_.

“Natchan,” Ritsu says, voice still sleepy. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes,” Arashi says, primly, dusting his uniform off with single-minded efficiency. He checked his hair at least three times before stepping outside; there’s no wind, so he should be in top shape and perfect form. “This is the sort of thing that every girl in love has to do to charm the man of their dreams!”

“Isn’t it easier to write a letter,” Ritsu says. He drops off at the end, like it’s more of a statement than a question, leaning back against the nearest tree that offers any small amount of shade. He pulls his foot in a little closer to his body, as if to make sure that the sun-warmed grass touches it as little as possible.

“I couldn’t possibly convey my feelings with a letter!” Arashi says. He takes a test step forward, practicing for exactly how he’ll do a theatrical – but not _too_ theatrical – dramatic fall into Kunugi-sensei’s arms, timed perfectly for when he’ll walk past. 

Hm, less of the spin, more fluttering hand motions – Arashi nearly falls for real, and catches himself on the corner of the school building. It won’t do to have any scrapes or scuffs; he needs to look as fresh as possible if this plan is to go properly!

“Get ou-sama to write you a song for him,” Ritsu says, not even bothering to stifle the yawn that crops up in the middle of his sentence. It’s only because they’ve been in the same unit for so long that Arashi can understand him when he talks like that, consonants blurring together in the face of the all-encompassing Sakuma Daytime Yawn.

Arashi clicks his tongue, temporarily putting a halt to his practice falls to put his hands on his hips. “You can’t get someone else to write you songs for the person you love!” Ignoring that Izumi has done a good portion of Leo’s lyrics lately, anyway. They all know what Silent Oath is about, they’re all just too polite to _say_ anything.

“These sorts of things have to be personal.”

“How is it personal for you to break your ankle?”

Arashi purses his lips into a pout, turning his back on Ritsu and going in for another carefully practiced fall, letting his ankle roll harmlessly. “I won’t break anything for real.”

“You should,” Ritsu says. “We wouldn’t have to perform next week. I could sleep in.”

“Ritsu-chan!” Arashi is the very picture of being scandalized. “That’s a horrible thing to say about someone you’re friends with!”

“Nah,” Ritsu says. “Don’t worry, I’d visit you in the hospital and make you something tasty.”

Arashi has several thoughts all at once – this is how Ritsu Sakuma shows affection, which isn’t the _weirdest_ way Arashi has seen someone be affectionate; the mental image of the last thing he saw Ritsu prepare; the fact that you don’t need to stay in the hospital that long if all you have is a broken ankle – and finally he settles on stating the least of all evils: “I’d get fat if I couldn’t practice.”

“You’d be cute,” Ritsu says. “Like Suu-chan.”

“Tsukasa-chan isn’t fat,” Arashi admonishes. “He’d be heartbroken if he heard you say that.”

“He’s cute,” Ritsu says, again, like Arashi hadn’t heard it the first time. “His stomach is like a pillow. I wanna lay on him.”

“That’s—“ Arashi starts, words on the tip of his tongue when he hears footsteps approaching. Ah, he got so involved in Ritsu’s love affair that he almost forgot why he was here! He steps over to the corner of the school building, hurriedly, gently propelling himself outwards into a fall.

“Oh!” he gasps in a very convincing alarmed voice as he falls, flinging his arms up. Just as planned, strong arms wrap around him, catching him before he can hit the ground, and Arashi takes a brief second to enjoy himself before he tries to open his eyes.

“You okay?” asks a voice that is _not_ Kunugi-sensei, and Arashi is grateful that he’s had so much practice in keeping his face neutral, or he might start to cry. 

He lurches up to his feet, out of the warm arms of the wrong teacher, laughing awkwardly.

“Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine – thank you, Sagami-sensei!” Arashi says with a laugh. He kicks his foot up behind him, the picture of cuteness, and then steps backwards towards Ritsu. “I just lost my balance practicing a new move for Knights – we’re off to practice for real now!”

He waves, grabs Ritsu’s hand, and pulls him out from underneath the shade of the tree, doing his best to ignore Ritsu’s tired snickering.

  
  
**WEDNESDAY**  
  


“Tsukasa-chan,” Arashi says, very seriously, gripping the handle of his umbrella so tightly that his knuckles turn white. “If this goes poorly, I want you to know that to hell with diets, we’re going out for ice cream, okay?”

Tsukasa turns wide purple eyes on Arashi, faltering slightly in the face of the intensity that radiates out from Arashi, and he nods, a little uncertain.

“Narukami-senpai,” Tsukasa says, delicately. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sick with _love_ ,” Arashi says, and his voice is a whisper. He feels like he might faint with sheer frustration if his plans go awry a third time – then he really will wind up in the infirmary, with the wrong teacher there. Ah, but maybe Kunugi-sensei would come check up on him…?! He’s often in the infirmary for some reason or another, after all.

Tsukasa stares at Arashi, youth making him more earnest. “I,” he says, slowly, “am not sure that I understand, but I support you!”

Arashi feigns wiping a tear from his eye. He would cry, if he hadn’t spent fifteen minutes in the bathroom making sure his eyeliner was perfect. Waterproof makeup only goes so far. He can’t run the risk of letting his hard work go to waste—which reminds him, actually; the ambient humidity is awful high, due to the amount of rain pouring down from the sky.

He slips his compact out and bats his eyelashes at his reflection, making sure he’s still a 10/10 at the top of his game. He can’t afford to slip even slightly! Third time is a charm, and Arashi knows all about charm.

“You’ll understand when you fall in love,” Arashi says, delicately pressing a fingertip to his lash line to brush away an errant hair. 

Tsukasa hesitates. Visibly. Arashi glances at him out of the corner of his eyes, not quite willing to cut corners on primping when he needs to look his best, but just as interested in whatever it is that Tsukasa is getting caught on. Arashi wouldn’t be a very good older sister if he ignored things like that, after all.

“Tsukasa-chan,” Arashi says, pitching his voice higher, curious and sweet and not at all prying, “have you fallen in love?”

“—No!” Tsukasa blurts, immediately, and it’s just _adorable_ how readily his cheeks turn redder than his hair. Younger boys have their merits, Arashi can’t help but think; youthful energy and innocence in great abundance, not like the tired senpai that haunt their halls and cry out about vampirism and breathplay. 

Arashi just waits. He’s a good listener, he knows that; it’s why he gets along so well with Mika, and he’s good at making his silences patient instead of judgmental. There’s nothing but the sound of the rain as it patters down in a steady stream, drenching the school grounds and anyone unlucky enough to be without an umbrella. 

Tsukasa shifts, finally, twisting his own umbrella back and forth and refusing to quite make eye contact.

“How do you know?” Tsukasa asks, slowly, and Arashi’s heart almost skips a beat with much affection he feels for the youngest child of Knights in that moment.

“If you think about them all the time,” Arashi says, careful not to imply a gender, because he’s seen Tsukasa with Anzu just as much as he’s seen Tsukasa with Leo, and there’s even odds in both directions. “If your heart flutters like a maiden’s whenever they smile, if you’d willingly go into battle for them.”

“If you want to help them,” Tsukasa says, slowly, “whenever they’re upset, no matter what they’re upset over?”

“Yes,” Arashi agrees, clicking his compact closed with a decisive snap. “That’s a little what being in love is like.”

Tsukasa considers that for a moment, and then offers Arashi a look filled with his characteristic confidence. Ah, that rich boy arrogance – it could win over any girl. “It sounds _terrifying_ ,” he says, mouth spilling over the English pronunciation as easy as anything.

“It is,” Arashi agrees, “but it’s also the nicest feeling in the world, hmm?”

“Like—oh,” Tsukasa says, leaning slightly to the side and looking around Arashi. “Is that him?”

Arashi’s head whips around so quickly he nearly gives himself a spinal cord injury. Plan: share an umbrella is quickly rolling into action, because he absolutely saw Kunugi-sensei dashing into the school this morning without one – which was out of character, given how prepared he usually is, and Arashi has been paying as much attention as possible to make sure his beloved isn’t sick. Kunugi hadn’t _seemed_ sick, just perhaps a bit more irritable than usual, but it’s awful hard to tell even for someone as well attuned to Kunugi’s body language as Arashi.

He should spend less time staring at his lips, maybe.

Arashi takes off. He isn’t on the track team for nothing, and it’s easy to jog a few paces over to where Kunugi is walking at a brisk pace, using his briefcase as a makeshift umbrella. 

“Kunugi-sensei!” Arashi calls. Yes, this is going perfectly; Kunugi is turning to look at him, and then Arashi will sweetly offer to let them share an umbrella, and laugh as they walk, and –

Then Kunugi’s shoe slips on the wet pavement. Arashi watches it happen in slow motion, knowing that when he dies (hopefully, within the next five minutes) he’ll have this moment playing in his mind on loop, over and over. 

Distantly, he hears the sound of Tsukasa shouting. Arashi’s umbrella begins to fall from his abruptly limp fingers, but Kunugi hits the ground first, with a solid thudding noise and a bounce that makes his briefcase fly out of his hands. 

“Kunugi-sensei!” The cry that Arashi gives as he springs into action, sliding over to his teacher, is perhaps a _little_ overwrought. In the background, he can hear the other students muttering – should we call the infirmary? An ambulance? Dude, he’s fine, ain’t he, he landed on his ass? – and he ignores all of it, looking at Kunugi and Kunugi alone.

“Did,” Kunugi says, slowly, pinks cheek as he sits on the wet pavement, water slowly seeping into his suit, “you need something?”

It’s very charitable that Kunugi doesn’t sound mad at Arashi. He sounds resigned, maybe a little exasperated, but not mad at Arashi, who falters for a moment. He isn’t even holding his umbrella even more; he must look _terrible_ with the rain pelting down on him – 

“Oh, I—Anzu-chan?”

Arashi pauses in the explanation he was hastily trying to think up (something about Leo and performances and desk cleaning duty, maybe) to look as Anzu slips in. She lets her umbrella fall over all three of them, offering her hand to Kunugi and giving an easy explanation that is entirely made up on the spot.

“—Yes, about that,” Arashi agrees, sending Anzu what he hopes is a look filled with thanks even if he’s quietly upset that it isn’t _his_ hand Kunugi gently holds onto to pull himself upright. “I just had a few questions…”

  
  
**THURSDAY**  
  


“Naru-chan,” Mika says, sympathy clear in his voice. “Ya can’t do eyeliner if yer cryin’.”

This, of course, just makes Arashi stifle a sob, giving up on all pretenses of doing his makeup and letting his head hit the comfortingly cool surface of the table in front of him. As an afterthought, he snaps his compact closed and whisks it back into his pocket; there’s no sense in letting it get scratched like his life is over or something.

“My life is over,” he states to Mika, even though his voice is muffled against the table.

Mika’s hand presses against his shoulder blade, and Arashi can’t help but look into those reassuring mismatched eyes. They’re a little blurry, because Arashi is crying without even trying to – he can’t use his tears as a weapon when he isn’t even controlling them, this is terrible – but it’s still Mika. 

“It ain’t that bad,” Mika says, giving Arashi’s shoulder an awkward little rub and a pat, like he’s not sure how to be comforting and doing his best imitation. Which probably isn’t too far from the truth, actually.

“It is that bad,” Arashi protests, sounding a bit like a sulking child and not caring in the slightest. He’s allowed to be immature today; he isn’t even trying to wait around a corner for Kunugi. Love has thwarted him too many times, and he had to watch Kunugi move gingerly all day knowing it was his fault that Kunugi had bruised his perfect ass. 

“Nah. He doesn’t even blame ya, right?” Mika takes his hands back so he can lean his chin down onto one of them, blinking. His lashes are so thick even without mascara that Arashi just adds it to his growing list of injustices about the world. “You ‘n the transfer student helped him up.”

“We talked for half an hour about extra financing for the units,” Arashi says. Just thinking on it makes him sleepy; he’d spent the entire half hour alternating between terribly bored and terribly embarrassed. 

“Oh, yeah,” Mika says. “I know a lot ‘bout that kinda stuff.” 

“Does Valkyrie need that sort of thing?” Arashi asks, temporarily rerouted from remembering how strong the urge to yawn had been the previous day.

“Oshi-san really likes to have a live orchestra,” Mika says, tracing a finger across the table. “There’s not really room at most of the venues for that kinda thing…” He trails off, finger circling a spot on the table that is probably meant to indicate a hypothetical orchestra pit. “We gotta talk to the teachers a lot.”

“Mika-chan,” Arashi says, very suddenly overcome with the need to have some sort of answer to why his life has been going this way recently. “Do you love him?”

“The teachers?” Mika asks, looking deeply alarmed at the thought.

“No,” Arashi says.

“Oh,” Mika says, and he inhales even after the sound is done, mouth still in a vowel shape as he looks at his hands. The pink in his cheeks tells Arashi everything he needs to know – it’s a mirror image of what Tsukasa looked like the previous day, except Mika wears it more comfortably. “I dunno. I think – as much as I can, ‘cause we’re just in high school, and all.”

“High school love,” Arashi says, a little wistful and a little brokenhearted, “is the most _important_ kind of love.” 

“Ya think so?” Mika asks, but the dreamy expression on his face speaks volumes for how much he agrees. Is that what Arashi looks like when he thinks about Kunugi? He isn’t sure. He’s never asked. “If that’s the kinda thing ya feel, then ya shouldn’t let it get you down!”

‘Get you down’ just makes Arashi think about Kunugi falling, again. He was right; the scene is going to be on replay as a feature of his most embarrassing moments until the day he dies and maybe after that. 

“C’mon, Naru-chan,” Mika says, reassuringly. He does his awkward little shoulder rub again, patting Arashi a little more firmly this time. “Ain’t ya pretty enough to get anyone ya want?”

Briefly – savagely – Arashi thinks that it clearly isn’t true; there are several people he’d love to get who are simply unavailable. There are people that look at him and don’t like him at all; there are people who have tastes that run completely counter to who Arashi is, fundamentally. There are a lot of people that Arashi would like to get, and it seems like he can’t manage something as simple as even flirting properly with his teacher, lately.

“Really, it’s just a lot for a girl to deal with,” Arashi says. He still sounds miserable, but even he can hear his tone picking up. That’s one of the several wonders about Mika Kagehira, his innate ability to be the most endearing creature in the world.

Arashi thinks it has to do with the eyes. They’re like magic. Definite charm point.

“Yeah, but yer one’a the strongest people I know!” Mika says. “ _An’_ yer pretty, ‘sides, so ya can definitely get sensei to hold your hand for a lil’ while if that’s all yer after.” 

It’s hard to stay depressed when there’s a cute boy telling you that you’re pretty. Arashi isn’t made of stone, and he isn’t very good at being depressed for very long, either – so he offers Mika a smile that he thinks has at least a little of his usual confidence behind it. Given the way Mika beams back at him, it must be working.

“You’re right,” Arashi says. “I’ll just have to try again!” 

He takes in a deep breath, trying to erase the mental image of Kunugi’s perturbed expression when he was flat on his ass in the middle of a rainstorm, and pulls his under-eye concealer out of his bag.

“But first, you have to help me,” Arashi says. “I can’t charm anyone when I’ve been crying.”

“Nah,” Mika says, taking the concealer to dab a little underneath Arashi’s eye and peer at it, biting his tongue in consideration. “Yer pretty even when ya’ve been cryin’. Makes your eyes real clear.”

“Mika-chan,” Arashi says, feeling his emotions well back up in his chest all over again. “You are an angel and no one is good enough for you.” It’s a good thing that Mika is so head over heels for Shu, or Arashi might find his love for Kunugi wavering a little. 

Mika just laughs at him, gently spreading the concealer out and tilting his head to see if he’s got it right. “I feel the same way ‘bout you ‘n sensei, Naru-chan,” he says, and every part of Arashi feels distinctly warm.

  
  
**FRIDAY**  
  


“Naru! Naru!” Leo chirps. He’s practically vibrating, and Arashi wonders if someone made the critical error of giving him something with too much caffeine in it. Did he steal one of the red bull…?

“Ou-sama, shh,” Arashi says, bringing a finger to his lips to hush Leo as gently as possible. 

“Huh? Oh, am I being too loud?” Leo says, looking so genuinely confused at the idea that it makes Arashi want to pull on his hair. Just a little. “Anyway, ignore that, Naru! Suo said you’re in love!”

“Yes,” Arashi says, “I am.”

“Have you tried writing a song?!”

“Ou-sama,” Arashi says, patiently, because after all the setbacks he’s had this week, he genuinely thinks he should be nominated for sainthood with how patient he’s being. It’ll all pay off in the end, it has to all pay off in the end. “You’re the one who can write romantic songs, you know? The rest of us have to use our great looks and charming personalities to get what we want!”

Leo stops looking where he’d been looking – at the wall? Arashi hopes with a slight edge of hysteria that Leo wasn’t about to start drawing on the school wall with markers – and looks at Arashi, instead.

“Does that mean I’m not charming?”

“You’re definitely not charming,” Izumi says, rounding the corner. Ritsu is trailing after him, blinking sleepily as he tries to stay awake in the afternoon sunlight. 

“Sena! Don’t be mean!” 

“Definitely not charming,” Izumi repeats. He looks at Arashi, looking supremely unconcerned with one hand on his bag and the other hand holding his cell phone, Trickstar and Knight charms hanging delicately from the headphone jack. “So what time is he walking by this time?”

“Huh?” Leo says.

“About five more minutes,” Arashi says, completely ignoring Leo’s confusion, because sainthood never got anyone any closer to being able to feel their teacher’s chests. 

“Rittsu, am I charming?”

“You’re warm, come here, I’m gonna lay on you…”

“What’s your plan this time?” Izumi asks, completely unruffled by the small amounts of chaos happening around them. Arashi isn’t sure why he thought bringing Leo would work, but he’d tried the other three members of Knights as good luck charms. Maybe the naked king could bring him some naked –

That’s not a ladylike thought at all, Arashi chides himself before he can get too far down that path. 

“I thought I’d go back on my original plan!” Arashi has checked the variables, and given the disaster that was the rainstorm and how poorly his attempt at faking a fall went, he thought he would stick to his strengths.

Namely, being beautiful and dazzling. 

“Wa—Rittsu! Rittsu, I’m going to fall—“

“What happens if you get interrupted again?” Izumi asks, inspecting his phone like it has something interesting. It doesn’t; all of Izumi’s friends are literally right next to him and he doesn’t look nearly happy enough for it to be a text from Makoto, which means he’s just faking disinterest. Ugh, tsundere are so complicated.

“Anzu-chan is busy helping Undead plan something.” Arashi waves his hand, a bit dismissively; he hadn’t asked too many details on the subject – namely, all he wanted to know was if Adonis would be shirtless at any point, and if it was going to keep Anzu distracted for the rest of the day. The answers were in order, no (disappointing) and yes (less disappointing). 

“If you stay still, you won’t fall~”

Arashi ignores the crashing sound behind him as just under half his unit abruptly falls to the ground. 

“—Narukami-senpai! Am I too late?” 

That’s much more worthy of his attention.

“Tsukasa-chan!” Arashi beams, offering Tsukasa a smile that’s bright and, he finds, completely genuine. He’d meant to pull Leo into this, but everyone else showing up is a pleasant surprise, even if it does make them all a bit more conspicuous than he’d like. Well, at least he’ll have a good excuse for why he’s hanging around outside. Again. In Kunugi’s path. “No, there’s another – two minutes or so, I think.” 

“One and a half,” Izumi says, looking away from his phone.

“Do your best,” Tsukasa says, very seriously.

“Do your best, Naru!” Leo chirps from the ground. Ritsu appears to be quiet content to try and worm his way _inside_ Leo’s hoodie, and Leo appears to have given up on fighting it, at this point. 

“Ritsu-senpai, _what are you doing._ ”

“Suu-chan, if you want me to stop, you gotta come here… You’re so soft…”

Leo jumps at his opportunity, leaping to his feet and dusting himself off when Ritsu lunges up to grab onto Tsukasa, instead. “Wahaha, the King is free again!”

“ _Shh_ ,” Arashi says, urgently, like there’s a single prayer in the world of that working when his entire unit is assembled. He can see Kunugi. He turns his back to the pathway, mentally counting Kunugi’s steps – he’s got this, he’s got this. 

“Ritsu-sen _pai_!”

“Wow, Kasa-kun, I didn’t know your voice could go that high.”

Arashi drops his bag, letting it slip off his shoulder in a graceful fashion as he pretends to dig out his phone. He makes it look artful and completely accidental, and it falls, perfectly, on the sidewalk between he and Kunugi.

“Oh no, my—“ Arashi starts.

“Naru, here!” Leo chirps, grabbing the bag up and offering it to Arashi. “If you need someone to carry it, make Sena do it.”

Kunugi does not even glance at them as he walks by.

Arashi feels a piece of his soul die.

“You fucked that up,” Izumi says. 

“What did he do?” Leo asks, confused.

“No, you,” Ritsu says, calmly, from where he has a hand splayed underneath Tsukasa’s uniform shirt to pinch at the extra fat on his hipbone. “Natchan did just fine.”

“Wait, me? I did something wrong? Naru! Naru! What did I do?” Leo looks at Arashi, urgent and worried, lunging forward with Arashi’s bag still in his hand. “Whatever I did, I’ll make it up to you, I promise!”

Honestly, Arashi can’t even be mad. This is his own fault.

“This is your fault for bringing him,” Izumi says, stowing his phone back in his pocket with careful attention paid to making sure his phone charms stay attached. 

“I’m aware,” Arashi says, sighing heavily. “Maybe this week isn’t a good week for love? I should have checked both of our horoscopes.” 

“It’s a great week for love!” Leo says, sounding so convinced of this fact that he almost manages to make Arashi believe him. “I love you! I love you all, you’re my knights!” 

Something about that – about being in knights, about their fearless (and moderately insane) leader being back, about being loved – clicks into place in Arashi’s brain, accompanied by the earnest way Leo presses Arashi’s bag back into his hand and the way Izumi’s eyes catch his. Tsukasa manages to get to his feet, Ritsu still draped over him like there are magnets attaching them, and Arashi smiles.

“Do you love me enough to buy me dessert, ou-sama?” Arashi asks, in his sweetest voice.

“No.” 

“Wh—ou-sama, you can’t just turn a girl down like that!”

“But I love you enough to write you a song! That’s even better, isn’t it? Wahaha!” 

Leo moves ahead of the group, and Arashi turns to Izumi, offering him a pout.

“Yeah,” Izumi says, sounding exasperated. “I’ll get you dessert, so long as Kuma-kun promises not to try and make any for us.”

“My desserts are delicious,” Ritsu objects, looking sullen as Tsukasa manages to wriggle entirely out of his grasp. Tsukasa plasters himself next to Arashi, instead, and Arashi links their arms, and then links his other arm through Izumi’s.

“Ah, you’ll all have to marry me since my love life has gone so poorly,” Arashi says, and watches the way Tsukasa turns a little pink. Ooh. That’s interesting. 

“That isn’t how mar—“

“Can it, Kasa-kun,” Izumi says. “You’ll make him cry.”

Arashi lets his lower lip wobble, just a little.

“Are you coming?!” Leo calls from twenty feet down the path, having apparently managed the art of teleportation when Arashi wasn’t looking. It isn’t the weirdest thing about their school, so Arashi doesn’t give more than a second’s worth of consideration to it.

Even if his best laid plans have all gone awry, at least he’ll get something out of it, even if it looks like it was something he had to begin with. 

“Yes,” Arashi says, taking a step forward with a cute boy on each arm and Ritsu slinking after Leo like a cat about to pounce. “We’re coming.”

**Author's Note:**

> i love knights. i _love_ knights. the working title of this fic was "arashi's life is one big shitpost". 
> 
> thanks for reading!


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